Dog-off-a-chain wind, teasing sun, biting cold and a little bit of hail for good measure.

Oh, and the intense pressure of the Neville Richards Premier League semi-finals!

What a day it was on Saturday and what a way to build to this week’s grand final.

After the “fog-out” of the previous weekend, the mentally nimble organisers decided on a change of formats from the “norm”, meaning teams one (Peakers) and two (Goblins) played to determine the first grand finalist.

After that, teams three (Tornadoes) and four (Warriors) played and then the losing score in match one simultaneously played the winning score in match two in a quasi-preliminary final.

Anyway, what happened was the Peakers ran their winning streak to seven and overpowered the Goblins, 256-245.

In the knockout match, the Tornadoes went in severely under-resourced with six players absent. Yet somehow they put in an amazing performance and with Craig Duncanson peeling off a sensational 39 in the conditions, the red team was well in the hunt all day.

Sadly for the Tornadoes, though, depth played a key part and with Neil Ryan’s 26 having to count, they fell two points shy of the resurgent Warriors.

Dale Scott was great for his 37, then Bernard Reed was one of the afternoon hail-warriors who matched his teammate’s tally to ensure a 269-267 victory.

This also meant that the Warriors’ 269 was comfortably enough for the Goblins’ 245 and they had the double delight of winning the preliminary final for good measure.

So it’s the green of the Warriors against the blue of the Peakers for all the marbles.

And wait until you watch the video to see how mathematician Matt crunches the numbers to help predict what should be an epic decider!

It’s incredible how tight is shapes up to be statistically.

Anyway, we have a full house for the presentation night on Saturday.

Festivities start at 6pm, so please be ready on time so you don’t miss the shenani—, ooops, the show!

Feel free to wear your team colours, or any other theme you want to promote on the night – we’re still running the laywers’ eyes over Big Foot’s costume.

Good luck to all in the grand final and remember, we are also playing to determine the inaugural Peter Solohub Medal winner for the best player of the finale.

We’ll see you all on Saturday night when all the year’s prize winners will be revealed!

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